Another worm in The Big Apple.
http://www.nypostonline.com/postopinion/editorial/10594.htm
LIFE AND DEATH IN THE BRONX
Is it coincidence? Or cause and effect?
The Post's Murray Weiss this morning reports that the number of murders in The Bronx this year has already exceeded the total for all of 1999.
Last year, 137 people were murdered; this year, as of Sunday, 139 Bronx residents had fallen victim to deliberate homicide. The number projects to a total annual number of murders - 219 - not seen since 1996.
Interestingly, the butcher's bill appears to be going up only in The Bronx.
Citywide, the murder rate is flat. Were that the case in The Bronx, homicide would be down 10 percent in the five boroughs.
As dismaying as this news is, it is not at all surprising.
Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson's reckless anti-cop rhetoric during the Amadou Diallo episode was certain to undermine respect for the law in his borough.
Indeed, the decision to proceed with wholly unsustainable second-degree murder indictments - a mixed-race jury acquitted the officers on all counts - certainly didn't help, either.
Remember, the Diallo case was more or less about the NYPD's Street Crimes Unit - which was formed essentially to rid the city of illegal guns.
Now, in the wake of the Diallo prosecution - and Johnson's having likened the tragedy to a drive-by shooting - comes news that guns are back on the streets as well.
Weiss reports that shooting incidents are also up in The Bronx.
So is it possible that cops - fearing prosecution - are avoiding doing their duty?
We sure hope not.
But even if the cops are being as vigilant as ever, the general tone for the entire borough is set - and the bad guys are paying attention in their own way.
Johnson has been only too clear on where he stands on the death penalty. Crooks in The Bronx know that, no matter how heinous the crime, they will never face the death penalty while Robert Johnson remains in office.
When the cops have to face the state's toughest punishments, while the bad guys know that they will always escape even consideration of the ultimate price - an obvious imbalance is created.
Needless to say, consequences follow.
Copyright 2000 NYP Holdings, Inc.
http://www.nypostonline.com/postopinion/editorial/10594.htm
LIFE AND DEATH IN THE BRONX
Is it coincidence? Or cause and effect?
The Post's Murray Weiss this morning reports that the number of murders in The Bronx this year has already exceeded the total for all of 1999.
Last year, 137 people were murdered; this year, as of Sunday, 139 Bronx residents had fallen victim to deliberate homicide. The number projects to a total annual number of murders - 219 - not seen since 1996.
Interestingly, the butcher's bill appears to be going up only in The Bronx.
Citywide, the murder rate is flat. Were that the case in The Bronx, homicide would be down 10 percent in the five boroughs.
As dismaying as this news is, it is not at all surprising.
Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson's reckless anti-cop rhetoric during the Amadou Diallo episode was certain to undermine respect for the law in his borough.
Indeed, the decision to proceed with wholly unsustainable second-degree murder indictments - a mixed-race jury acquitted the officers on all counts - certainly didn't help, either.
Remember, the Diallo case was more or less about the NYPD's Street Crimes Unit - which was formed essentially to rid the city of illegal guns.
Now, in the wake of the Diallo prosecution - and Johnson's having likened the tragedy to a drive-by shooting - comes news that guns are back on the streets as well.
Weiss reports that shooting incidents are also up in The Bronx.
So is it possible that cops - fearing prosecution - are avoiding doing their duty?
We sure hope not.
But even if the cops are being as vigilant as ever, the general tone for the entire borough is set - and the bad guys are paying attention in their own way.
Johnson has been only too clear on where he stands on the death penalty. Crooks in The Bronx know that, no matter how heinous the crime, they will never face the death penalty while Robert Johnson remains in office.
When the cops have to face the state's toughest punishments, while the bad guys know that they will always escape even consideration of the ultimate price - an obvious imbalance is created.
Needless to say, consequences follow.
Copyright 2000 NYP Holdings, Inc.